www.hovedsteder.blogg.no is a Norway-based blog about the capitals of the world, with a focus on tourism, travel, transport, the environment, diplomatic affairs, lifestyle, culture and entertainment, food and drink. Contact us at [email protected] 

A man holds an image of late Archbishop of San Salvador Oscar Arnulfo Romero during his beatification ceremony Saturday at Plaza del Mundo in San Salvador. Photo credit: Reuters / Landov / National Public Radio

Oscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdamez, the Catholic archbishop who was murdered in El Salvador in 1980 by a member of a right-wing death squad, has been beatified in a ceremony in the country’s capital on Saturday 23 May that drew at least a quarter of a million people in the capital San Salvador, National Public Radio – www.npr.org reports.

Archbishop Romero, was killed when offering Mass in the chapel of the Hospital of Divine Providence in San Salvador on 24 March 1980. He was 63 years old.

The beatification is the last step before canonization, when the Vatican would declare Romero a saint. In January, the Holy See declared him a martyr.

Romero was archbishop of San Salvador at the start of El Salvador’s 1979-1992 civil war. He was gunned down while celebrating Mass in March 1980 after denouncing a crackdown on leftist opponents of the country’s military government.

Saturday’s beatification ceremony ends a long-fought battle for recognition of Romero’s life and work. But many say it does little to curb the current gang violence terrorizing the country today.

According to Carrie,”Romero’s beatification has brought visitors and his supporters from around the world to this small Central American nation. They stream through Romero’s spartan home in San Salvador, the capital, now preserved as a tiny museum, where Romero lived up until his death.”

In a letter to the current Archbishop of San Salvador, Pope Francis said Romero’s beatification created “a favorable moment for true and proper reconciliation.

“In this day of joy for El Salvador and also for other Latin American countries, we thank God for giving the martyr archbishop the ability to see and feel the suffering of his people,” the pope wrote, according to the BBC.

#BBC #Biskop #By #Erkebiskop #ElSalvador #Ferie #Frans #Hovedstad #LatinAmerika #MellomAmerika #Museum #Pave #Reise #SanSalvador #Vatikanet #Vatikanstaten

#Archbishop #Bishop #Capital #CentralAmerica #City #Francis #Holiday #Pope #Travel #Vatican

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St.Pierre – hovedstaden i Saint-Pierre og Miquelon.

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Langt nord i Atlanteren, sør for den canadiske provinsen Newfoundland og Labrador, ligger den forblåste, franske øygruppen Saint-Pierre og Miquelon.

Vel 6300 innbyggere (i 2013) fordelt på 242 km2, bare to av de åtte øyene er bebodd. Dette er et lite stykke Frankrike – helt siden 1814 – tusenvis av mil fra moderlandet, men her gjelder EU-lover og regler, språket og kulturen er fransk, valutaen er euro, her synges Marseillasen på den franske nasjonaldagen 14.juli, og selv om øyene har sitt eget regionalflagg, er det den franske trikoloren som vaier fra offentlige bygninger og viser tydelig hvor folket og øyene hører hjemme.

Saint-Pierre og Miquelon er et såkalt Collectivite territoriale d’outre mer, et fransk oversjøisk territorium/samfunn, som Frankrike har en lang rekke av rundt om i verden – i Karibia, Sør-Amerika, Det indiske hav, og i Oseania.

Øygruppens økonomi er bygget på fiske, da spesielt torskefisket, og øyenes nasjonale motto er da også “A mare Labor” på latin – Arbeid, fra havet. Turisme er også en viktig inntektskilde.

Territoriet har to kommuner – hovedstaden Saint-Pierre på øya av samme navn, og Miquelon-Langlade, som ligger på nordspissen av øya Miquelon. 

Hovedstaden har 5670 innbyggere, Miquelon-Langlade har rundt 630 innbyggere. En tredje kommune, Isle-aux-Marins på øya av samme navn, eksisterte frem til slutten av 2.verdenskrig. Øya ble fraflyttet i 1963. 

Hovedstaden Saint-Pierre er sete for den franske prefekten (guvernøren), og øyenes lokalregjering, med et folkevalgt territorialråd i et flerpartisystem. Rådets president er i praksis øyenes regjeringssjef. Saint-Pierre og Miquelon sender en representant til den franske nasjonalforsamlingen og en til senatet.

 Øygruppens internasjonale flyplass, Saint-Pierre Airport, ligger sør for hovedstaden. Selskapet Air Saint-Pierre, flyr til Miquelon-øya og til seks byer i Canada, blant annet St.John’s på Newfoundland og Montreal i Quebec.

 Saint-Pierre og Miquelon ligger sørvest for Newfoundland i Canada.

Place du General de Gaulle – hovedgata/torget – i sentrum av Saint-Pierre

Hovedstadens katolske katedral – Cathedral Saint-Pierre de Saint-Pierre stod ferdig i 1907.

Saint-Pierre og Miquelons flagg

#Atlanteren #By #Canada #EU #Euro #Ferie #Fiske #Flyplass #Flyselskap #Frankrike #Guvernør #Hovedstad #IndiskeHav #Karibia #Katedral #Kommune #Labrador #Latin #Montreal #Nasjonalforsamling #Newfoundland #Oseania #President #Quebec #Regjering #Reise #StJohn #SaintPierre #StPierreOgMiquelon #Senat #SørAmerika #Turisme #Øy

www.hovedsteder.blogg.no is a Norway-based blog about the capitals of the world, with a focus on tourism, travel, transport, the environment, diplomatic affairs, lifestyle, culture and entertainment, food and drink. Contact us at [email protected] 

Ada Colau, Barcelona?s soon-to-be new mayor, says she intends to limit the amount of tourists visiting the Catalonian city, in a bid to “stop the city becoming Venice”.

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“If we don’t want to end up like Venice, we will have to put some kind of limit in Barcelona,” the anti-austerity protester reiterated. Having won the most council seats in last month’s local election with Barcelona en Comú, she told El País newspaper on Monday, that,”We can grow more, but I don’t know how much more.”

In 2013, 7.57 million tourists visited Spain’s second largest city and over six million of those came from countries outside of Spain. Colau wants to balance the interests of the tourism sector with those of the Barcelona residents, and it is with this in mind that her new administration plans to put in place what she calls a “saturation limit.”

“We have to put a moratorium in place regarding new hotels and tourist apartments, carry out a census and create a preventive policy before things get out of hand, as has occurred in Ciutat Vella,” Colau said, referring to the old quarter of the city.

In recent times, Barcelona has become a number one city break destination, and with it has come a host of unwanted rowdy behavior, which has caused anger amongst locals.

A photograph of three young men running naked through the streets of Barceloneta emerged online last August. The men, who were believed to be Italian tourists, demonstrated the oftentimes out of control side of the tourism that has descended upon the once traditional city streets.

Barceloneta Residents Association president Oriol Casabella, said: “This has begun to look like Magaluf.”

#Barcelona #Borgermester #By #Ferie #Hovedstad #Italia #Katalonia #Naken #Ordfører #Reise #Spania #Venezia

#Capital #Catalonia #City #Holiday #Italy #Mayor #Nude #Spain #Travel #Venice 

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Castries, capital of Saint Lucia

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St Lucia is set to host a wedding symposium in September with a focus on destination weddings, a tourism niche the Caribbean country seeks to enter.

“Recognised worldwide as the most romantic island in the Caribbean, Saint Lucia has a natural ambiance for weddings and romance,” the St Lucia Tourist Board’s Louis Lewis said in a statement.

During the Love Elevated event from September 23-27, a panel of brides who were married on the island will share their destination wedding experiences.

#Bryllup #By #Castries #Ferie #Hovedstad #Karibia #Reise #SaintLucia #StLucia

#Capital #Caribbean #City #Holiday #Travel #Wedding

www.hovedsteder.blogg.no is a Norway-based blog about the capitals of the world, with a focus on tourism, travel, transport, the environment, diplomatic affairs, lifestyle, culture and entertainment, food and drink. Contact us at [email protected] 

Kazakhstan national flag.

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Kazakhstan has opened an embassy in Belgrade in Serbia, Tengrinews reports citing the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, the www.en.tengrinews.kz website reports.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Alexey Volkov participated in the grand opening of the mission. He was one a working visit in Serbia from 3rd to 5th June.

During his stay in Belgrade Mr.Volkov met with the Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic and other senior officials of the country. Consultations between the foreign ministries of the two countries touched upon issues of bilateral cooperation and international agenda.

The key event of the visit was the official opening of the Embassy of Kazakhstan in Serbia with a permanent location in Belgrade and the official inauguration of the Honorary Consul of Kazakhstan in the Republic of Serbia Milanka Karic.

“The diplomatic presence of Kazakhstan in Serbia started at this important historic moment,” the Ministry said.

The opening ceremony was attended by the head of the Serbian State and members of the Parliament, representatives of the political and scientific circles of the country, diplomatic corps and large companies, as well as the Kazakh diaspora.

There was also a presentation of the the book “Nursultan Nazarbayev. Biography” in Serbian.

Serbian President said that political and business circles of the country had a positive opinion about Kazakhstan as a stable and dynamically developing country, which is one of the best Central Asian examples of promoting tolerance, security and stability.

He pointed out the successful chairmanship of Kazakhstan in the OSCE and the OIC and choice of Astana as the venue for EXPO-2017 as signifiers of international recognition of the country’s achievements.

#Ambassade #Beograd #By #Ferie #Hovedstad #Kasakhstan #Minister #President #Reise #Serbia

#Belgrade #Capital #City #Embassy #Holiday #Travel

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St. Lucia opened an embassy in Taiwan’s capital Taipei on Thursday, the Caribbean country’s first in Asia, in an effort to strengthen bilateral ties, the www.focustaiwan.tw website reports.

The inauguration ceremony was presided over by St. Lucia Prime Minister Kenny Anthony, who is on a visit to Taiwan this week.

The ceremony was also attended by St. Lucia’s Minister for External Affairs, International Trade and Civil Aviation Alva Baptiste; Permanent Representative of Saint Lucia to the United Nations Menissa Rambally; and other St. Lucian officials.

Also present were Taiwan’s Foreign Minister David Lin, Taiwan’s ambassador to St. Lucia James Chang and other Taiwanese foreign affairs officials.

“We’ve decided to strengthen our bilateral relations,” Baptiste said at a reception marking the opening of the embassy. Having a presence in Taiwan will help advance bilateral ties. he added.

The embassy will be tasked with promoting foreign investment in St. Lucia, Baptiste said.

The St. Lucian government is in the process of appointing an ambassador, who will arrive in Taiwan “soon,” Mr.Baptiste said, but he did not disclose a name.

Baptiste lauded Taiwan as “a model of economic development for small states,” saying it has the experience of engaging in a technological revolution that has enhanced its economic development and the welfare of its people.

Speaking at the reception, Lin said Taiwan welcomed the establishment of the St. Lucian embassy.

“The opening of an embassy of St. Lucia in the Republic of China marks a new milestone in the cordial and cooperative relations between our two countries,” Lin said, adding that it will help cement bilateral ties in the future and create more opportunities for exchanges and cooperation.

Noting that the new embassy is St. Lucia’s first such mission in Asia, he said Taiwan can serve as a gateway for the Caribbean country to the rest of the region.

Lin also expressed gratitude for St. Lucia’s support of Taiwan’s efforts to gain meaningful participation in specialized agencies of the United Nations.

The Republic of China and St. Lucia have maintained close cooperation in the areas of public health, education, infrastructure and culture since the two countries resumed diplomatic relations in 2007 following a 10-year hiatus.

The two sides first established diplomatic ties in 1984, but St. Lucia switched recognition to the People’s Republic of China in 1997.

It is the first time St. Lucia has established an embassy in Taiwan.

Of Taiwan’s 22 diplomatic allies, St. Vincent and the Grenadines is now the only one not to have set up an embassy here.

#Ambassade #Ambassadør #By #Ferie #Hovedstad #Karibia #Kina #MInister #Reise #SaintLucia #StLucia #Taipei #Taiwan

#Ambassador #Capital #Caribbean #China #City #Embassy #Holiday #Travel

www.hovedsteder.blogg.no is a Norway-based blog about the capitals of the world, with a focus on tourism, travel, transport, the environment, diplomatic affairs, lifestyle, culture and entertainment, food and drink. Contact us at [email protected] 

Photo credit: Andrei Makhonin / Vedomosti / The Moscow Times

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Russia’s federal tourism agency will partner with private firms to establish national tourism offices across a number of foreign cities, news agency TASS reported Thursday, as political tensions over the Ukraine crisis see the number of Westerns tourists decline, the www.moscowtimes.com website reports.

“This scheme is very important for us given the limited financial means of both Rostourism and other participants,” TASS quoted deputy head of Rosturism Sergei Korneyev as saying.  

Tourism from most Western countries to Russia sank between 15-20 percent in 2014 compared to 2013, newspaper Kommersant reported in April, citing data from Rosturism. The number of tourists overall to Russia fell 3 percent.

The first Russian national office was opened in Dubai on May 17, and will be joined later in the next four months by offices in Helsinki, Berlin, Beijing and Rome, Rostourism head Oleg Safonov said Monday, TASS reported.

The office in Helsinki will be financed solely by its commercial activities while the offices in Berlin, Beijing and Rome will be provided with some financial support from the state, according to TASS.

Of the countries that will now have tourism offices, the number of people visiting Russia from Finland fell 27 percent, from Germany 8 percent, and from Italy 9 percent. Tourism from China, meanwhile, grew 10 percent.

#Beijing #Berlin #By #Dubai #Emiratene #Ferie #Finland #ForenteArabiskeEmirater #Helsinki #Hovedstad #Italia #Kina #Moskva #Reise #Roma #Russland #Tyskland

#Capital #China #City #Germany #Holiday #Italy #Moscow #Rome #Russia #Travel #UnitedArabEmirates

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Colombo, Sri Lanka

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Colombo leads the pack as the fastest growing city in terms of international, overnight visitor numbers in the annual MasterCard Global Destinations Cities Index.

The rapid rise in tourism after the end of Sri Lanka’s long running civil war brought about Colombo’s double-digit cumulative annual growth rate over the last six years.

Seven of the top ten fastest growing cities by visitor number over this period are in Asia, the www.lankaweb.com website reports.

Forecasted top ten fastest growing cities:

1. Colombo, Sri Lanka – 21.1 %

2. Chengdu, China – 20.7 %

3. Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates – 20.4%

4. Osaka, Japan – 19.8%

5. Riyadh, Saudi-Arabia – 18.0%

6. Xi An, China – 16.2%

7. Taipei, Taiwan – 14.9%

8. Tokyo, Japan – 14.6%

9. Lima, Peru – 13.9%

10.Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam – 12.9%

In addition, Asian cities continue to dominate of the Index, making up half of the top ten. Bangkok has retained its position at number twowith 18.24 million international overnight visitors and is catching up with top-ranked city, London. Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Seoul and Hong Kong round off the top ten, taking seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth place respectively.Forecasted international overnight visitors tothe top ten cities:

1. London, United Kingdom – 18.82 million

2.Bangkok, Thailand – 18.24 million

3. Paris, France – 16.06 million

4. Dubai, United Arab Emirates – 14.26 million

5. Istanbul, Turkey – 12.56 million

6. New York, USA – 12.27 million

7. Singapore – 11.88 million

8. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – 11.12 million

9. Seoul, South Korea – 10.35 million

10.Hong Kong – 8.66 million

Driven by insights into travel patterns, the Global Destinations CitiesIndex provides a ranking of the 132 most visited cities from around the world. More than just a travel tracker, the Index provides an understanding of how people move around the world and the importance of the world?s cities as homes, destinations and engines of growth.

Report in full can be downloaded from here: http://news.mstr.cd/1BGlGSw

#AbuDhabi #Bangkok #By #Chengdu #Colombo #Dubai #Emiratene #England #Ferie #ForenteArabiskeEmirater #Frankrike #HoChiMinCity #Hongkong #Hovedstad #Istanbul #Japan #Kina #KualaLumpur #Lima #London #Malaysia #MasterCard #NewYork #Osaka #Paris #Peru #Reise #Riyadh #SaudiArabia #Seoul #Singapore #SriLanka #Storbritannia #SørKorea #Taipei #Taiwan #Thailand #Tokyo #Tyrkia #USA #Vietnam #XiAn

#Capital #China #City #Emirates #France #Holiday #SouthKorea #Travel #Turkey #UAE #UnitedKingdom

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Malabo. Photo: www.embassyofequatorialguinea.co.uk

PRNewswire – USNewswire  press release: 

The capital city of Equatorial Guinea, Malabo, is in a state of constant improvement, says Mayor Maria Coloma Edjang Bengono. Every year, it seems to be cleaner, bigger, more modern, and more orderly.

The mayor of Malabo discussed in a recent interview the capital’s continual improvement and the city government’s major accomplishments. “What you have seen today is not what you will see tomorrow because the government of the Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea [governing party] is constantly working to improve not only the capital city of Malabo but the country as a whole.”

Malabo. Photo: wikipedia.org

She said that the residents of Malabo now have water, power, roads, and a sewage system. The government has already designed these projects and they are already running. “Our most important goal is to make sure all these services reach all citizens. Now our goal is for every citizen to have water, power, and environment sanitation access, among other things in their homes. That’s the main goal because the most important thing for a human being is water and then later come the other things. There is potable water, and now this year’s goal is for every citizen to have it [in their homes].”

“The biggest challenge I have had as mayor has been to clean this city, because it was decaying. My biggest challenge was to educate the people on how to handle the garbage and how to make the city clean. Where there is hygiene, there is life. I feel very proud to have an increasingly clean city.”

#Borgemester #By #EkvatorialGuinea #Ferie #Hovedstad #Malabo #Ordfører #Reise

#Capital #City #Holiday #Mayor #Travel

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Breaking the record for a fifth year in a row, Washington, DC’s tourism and hospitality industry continued to grow in domestic visitation for the year of 2014, reaching 18.34 million in domestic visitors (which is a rise of 5.7% since the previous year). According to reports, DC’s visitors spent around $6.8 billion, which is an increase of 1.9%, the www.tourism-review.com website reports.

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CEO and president of Destination DC, Elliott Ferguson, said that every visitor plays a pivotal role in supporting the local economy with every hotel stay, meal at a restaurant, and visit to attractions. Visitors are responsible for supporting nearly 75,000 District jobs, according to Ferguson.

He was also proud to report that visitor spending for 2014 rose by well over $100 million versus the previous year, suggesting that this is a strong indicator of the value in tourism investment.

This was the fourth year in a row in which visitor spending exceeded $6 billion. In addition to this, retail grew by roughly 2.5%. The amount of money spent on beverage and food rose by nearly 4%, and even entertainment spending grew by almost 2%, which shows improvement from the recessionary levels when consumers had significantly reduced non-essential spending.

Ferguson stated that Destination DC’s focus is to keep the District on consumers’ minds by putting their famous tourist inventory, and $9 billion planned in new development. They remain wary of challenges presented by a struggling Euro and a strong dollar, but plan to address key audiences in unique ways. Their seasonal campaign will include emojis with DC themes, a television commercial, and a print campaign featured in popular magazines.

In the year 2016, Washington, DC plans to welcome fifteen city-wide conventions in total, which include two particularly high-profile events in March and June respectively. They will also be hosting a wide variety of conferences in the year 2017, and future business contracts have recently been signed for multiple year bookings, including the American Chemical Society and Playlist Live.

According to their chief executive and president, Gregory O’Dell, Events DC’s job is to oversee attraction and growth of entertainment, conventions, cultural and sports events to the cosmopolitan city events such as the impending Foo Fighters anniversary concert on July 4th and the MLB game in 2018, which is expected to bring $60 million to Washington, DC. These events, he says, serve as perfect examples of the ways that their mission continues to support the city’s local hospitality and tourism industry, which results in significant economic benefits.

Washington, DC is also going to host many special events and familiar traditions that are certain to attract international and domestic leisure visitors during the upcoming second half of 2015, including their impressive annual July Fourth celebrations, the Jazz Festival, the famous Renwick Gallery’s reopening, and the Landmark Music Festival.

#Amerika #By #Ferie #Festival #Hovedstad #Jazz #Reise #USA #WashingtonDC

#America #Capital #City #Travel #USA